This executive-level panel event, sponsored by Salesforce and Bridgenext, features trailblazing women leaders in the transportation industry as they share their insights on the evolving market landscape. The dynamic discussion explored emerging industry trends, leadership journeys, and the challenges transportation organizations face in an era of rapid transformation.

Key Topics:

• The future of technology and innovation shaping transportation.
• The evolving role of women in leadership and the impact of diverse perspectives.
• The most pressing challenges facing transportation organizations today.
• Strategies for navigating market shifts, sustainability, and workforce development.

Meet the Panel:

• Carolyn Barker, Vice President Data Management, Insights & Applications, Werner
• Kate Mandrell, President, Marketing, Product and Revenue Enablement, UPS
• Stephanie Wicky, Vice President of Marketing, Ryder
• Robin Rodriguez, Vice President of Sales Operations, OnTrac

Watch the recorded session today.

About the Client

In this edition of our Meet the Team series, we’re excited to spotlight Shari Rauch, Director of Media Buying at Bridgenext. Based in Woodbury, NY, Shari brings a rich, multi-faceted background in media—from production and sales to her current role leading strategic media buying initiatives. With a career that began in the control rooms of CNN and evolved through decades of hands-on experience, Shari’s journey reflects not just adaptability, but a genuine passion for helping clients connect with the right audiences in meaningful ways. Let’s dive deeper and explore more about Shari in the sections below.

Bridgenext Team Stats:

• Name: Shari Rauch
• Hometown: Plainview, NY
• Current Team: Woodbury, NY
• Team Role: Director, Media Buying
• How did you enter the media industry? I went to the University of Maryland as a business major thinking I wanted to be an accountant. A couple of courses in I knew it wasn’t for me and came across Radio, Television and Film. I switched my major and that was my path going forward. My senior year I interned at CNN in DC which provided me with amazing hands-on experience. I was one of the few interns that wanted to be in the control room. The production crew took me under their wings, and it was a fantastic experience. After graduating college, I started out on the production side of the business producing satellite media tours, B-Roll packages, and creative video content. From there I transitioned to sales and after many years as an account director I made the move to media buying which I love. It’s been great getting to work in all these different areas of the industry.
• Sum up your work style in three emojis:
• What do you love most about working with your team at Bridgenext? I truly love working with everyone on our team. We are always collaborating to create unique media plans for our clients. I consider the team to be more than just colleagues, they are my friends.
• How would your coworkers describe you? Hardworking, organized, detail oriented, can-do attitude.
• Favorite go-to snack/drink to keep your creative juices flowing Anything chocolate
• What fuels your creative fire? (Besides caffeine and money, of course!) I enjoy designing integrated plans that provide clients with the right mix of media for the biggest impact on their target audience while maximizing their budget. I also enjoy the research side, which keeps us in the know on emerging channels and ahead of media trends. I also have to admit that I watch a lot of TV – in the name of research of course!
• What’s your biggest career achievement? Staying in constant growth mode. It’s rewarding to have been on so many sides of the industry during my career, contributing to all size projects in numerous roles and partnering with clients in every vertical.
• Tell us about a project that you are proud of: One project that stands out for me is the Arkansas Vaccination PSA we worked on during the pandemic. It was a complex, high-impact, high-visibility campaign with a large-scale integrated media plan that reached a broad and diverse audience across the state. It was rewarding to be part of something so timely and meaningful, especially knowing it played a role in public health awareness.
• What’s the most exciting trend in media right now? The most exciting trend in media right now is the growing integration with streaming networks. This “new” landscape is creating exciting new opportunities to engage target audiences and sharpen your strategy when planning media buys. It’s also a great way to amplify the content from your satellite media tour programs.
• Favorite Quote: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs

Whether she’s researching new media opportunities, fine-tuning a client campaign, or drawing inspiration from a late-night TV binge, Shari approaches every project with energy, precision, and heart. Her collaborative spirit and deep industry knowledge make her an invaluable part of the Bridgenext team. We’re lucky to work alongside someone who not only loves what she does—but makes everyone around her better at what they do too. Stay tuned for more Meet the Team features as we celebrate the incredible individuals who make our PR strategies and delivery successful.

We can’t overlook how AI and automation have gone from being shiny new toys to absolute must-haves for today’s financial world. Banks and financial institutions are caught in a perfect storm—tightening regulations, customers demanding 24/7 digital services, and more. Add the ongoing tariff wars, global economic instability, and the constant need to do more with less, and it’s no wonder AI-driven transformation is a focus for the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) industry.

AI is now revolutionizing operations in the BFSI sector, with its ability to boost efficiency, enhance compliance, and deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences. It also plays a critical role in real-time fraud detection and prevention, ensuring greater security and trust. Automation tools, such as intelligent agents, are empowering financial institutions to reduce costs, accelerate innovation, and foster stronger, more meaningful customer relationships, laying the groundwork for long-term success.

In this blog, we highlight a specific use case of an agriculture focused lender and how they streamlined operations with Agentforce. We will also explore several real-world use cases that showcase the broader impact of AI and intelligent agents across customer service, sales, marketing, compliance, and beyond.

AI and Automation in BFSI

We’ve come a long way from traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA). In today’s hyper-digital world, customers expect instant, seamless service—and internal teams can no longer afford to be slowed down by manual handoffs, siloed systems, or inconsistent data.

That’s why Agentic AI is the next logical step. Compared to older automation approaches, Agentic AI is less rigid, more adaptive, and designed to respond dynamically to changing needs. Agentic AI uses networks of agents that learn, adapt and work together – making decisions and improving continuously, much like humans do.

The goal isn’t to rip and replace your existing systems, it’s to embed intelligence exactly where it matters most, elevating operations without massive disruption.

Agentforce, Salesforce’s next-gen Agentic AI framework, is built to do just that. It uses natural language processing and Large Language Models (LLM) to search through data and surface helpful responses for people, saving time and improving customer service. With smart follow-up suggestions and clear explanations, the digital agent can quickly provide answers. It is a great tool in your toolbox to help you level up functions like:

• Customer Service: Resolve complaints, disputes and account maintenance requests faster with AI-powered case routing, knowledge surfacing, and automated follow-up – improving both customer satisfaction and agent productivity.
• Sales: Accelerate deal cycles with smart lead scoring, next-best-action recommendations, and real-time insights drawn from customer behavior.
• Marketing: Personalize campaigns at scale by using AI to segment audiences, optimize messaging, and predict engagement.
• Compliance: Monitor transactions and communications proactively to flag potential risks early, reducing regulatory exposure.
• HR and Operations: Automate onboarding, benefits management, and internal ticket resolution—freeing up teams to focus on higher-value work.

Watch “How AI & Automation are Transforming the Customer Experience in Banking: On Demand Webcast” for more insights. With Agentforce, Financial Services firms can weave better intelligence into the systems they use on a daily basis —driving maximum impact.

Now, let’s take a closer look at how a farm credit cooperative specializing in agricultural lending leveraged Agentforce to transform its operations—delivering smarter, faster, and more reliable service to its customers.

Use Case: How a Financial Institution Modernized Lending Operations with Agentforce

Agriculture lending isn’t your typical loan workflow. It demands managing distributed operations, navigating compliance-heavy evaluations, and supporting relationship managers who are critical to customer trust.

Traditionally, fragmented applicant data, lengthy pre-processing, and limited visibility have slowed everything down—creating frustration for both its employees and customers.

With Agentforce, that’s changed.

Loan officers no longer need to manually parse emails or dig through CRM records or search for loan option information. Agentic AI intelligently scans unstructured inputs, pulls relevant Salesforce data, and prepares pre-filled loan applications for faster turnaround—freeing up teams to focus on judgment calls rather than data wrangling.

But it’s not just about smoother form fills or better dashboards. Agentic AI in banking delivers real, back-office transformation:

• Unstructured emails and attachments are automatically converted into structured, review-ready inputs.
• Repetitive administrative tasks are handled autonomously, giving teams more time for high-value relationship building.
• Approval workflows are streamlined, without sacrificing auditability or regulatory compliance.
• Agentforce also extends into HR operations, generating offboarding reports, running compliance checks, and more—automatically.
• Customer-facing teams benefit too, with intelligent agents handling account updates, disputes, and fraud alerts in real time.

The result? A smarter, faster lending process, better employee experience, and stronger relationships with customers.

Execution is Everything: Laying the Foundation for Agentic AI Success

Building agents can be easy -but ensuring they are effective and sustainable requires much more than just spinning up automation flows.

True success starts with some prep work:

• Data readiness: Ensuring your information is clean, connected, and accessible is non-negotiable.
• System integration: Intelligent agents are only as powerful as the systems they can reach—CRM, core banking, compliance platforms, and more.
• Guardrails: Clear boundaries must be set so agents know what they can and cannot do, ensuring security, compliance, and trust at every step.

Agentforce isn’t about replacing existing processes or people – it’s about evolving operations intelligently and strategically by combining human-first design thinking with the full power of AI to drive real impact.

This is where having the right partner makes the difference. With Bridgenext, you get a team that not only understands the intricacies of Financial Services firm operations, but also knows how to set up the underlying architecture that makes Agentic AI truly deliver on its promise. If you haven’t already, take a look at our recent blog on how to elevate banking operations using Financial Services Cloud and Agentforce, powered by Bridgenext Process Libraries.

Ready to ideate on how AI can elevate your banking operations? Connect with us.

Reference:

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/12/agentic-ai-financial-services-autonomy-efficiency-and-inclusion/

About the Client

The new battlefield isn’t premiums.

Banks are caught in a tug-of-war between the future and the past. Customers want speed, personalization, and effortless service at every touchpoint. Regulators demand stricter compliance and transparency. But here’s the problem—behind the sleek apps and friendly chatbots, many banks are still weighed down by outdated legacy systems and inefficient processes. It’s time to address what’s really holding the banking industry back.

Middle and back-office operations like onboarding, servicing, credit processes, and dispute resolution might not be as visible as front-end apps, but they play a critical role in shaping customer experience. And the stakes are high— a study found that over 55% of end customers will leave their bank because of poor service or slow resolution time.

Another revealed that 80% of banking end customers use more than two channels to start and end a service request and end up giving up, expecting that the bank knows them and their needs. On the surface, things may still function. But as competition intensifies and expectations grow, the real risk is no longer just technical—it’s operational credibility. And no amount of front-end polish can fix that.

True transformation starts where customers don’t see it—but feel it. Through seamless onboarding, proactive service, and credit reviews that don’t vanish into someone’s inbox. That’s why banks aren’t just rethinking what they automate, they’re rethinking how they do it.

With Salesforce Financial Service Cloud (FSC) as the foundation and Agentforce agentic AI enhancements layered on top, operations go beyond faster. They become smarter, more adaptive, and ready for the future. This is automation that thinks. It’s the shift no one talks about—but every bank needs.

Here’s how intelligent automation powered by Salesforce FSC + Agentforce transforms key banking functions:

1. Simplified and Intelligent Client Onboarding

   Onboarding should set the tone for a trusted client relationship, but for many banks, it’s a source of frustration. Siloed systems and manual processes create bottlenecks, forcing new customers to wait days or even weeks. FSC digitizes client onboarding, while Agentforce simplifies workflows and data connectivity. For example, AI-driven systems can validate documentation in real-time, flag errors, pre-fill customer forms using existing data, and suggest next-best actions for advisors.

   Impact: Seamless workflows that reduce onboarding times by up to 40%, ensuring advisors spend more time building relationships, not chasing paperwork.

2. Integrated Account Maintenance

   Customer data is dynamic, and managing updates manually is not only time-intensive but prone to errors. FSC facilitates seamless updates through self-service portals, and Agentforce can synchronize the data across all internal and customer-facing systems. By pulling insights from disparate systems without complex integrations, updates are faster, more accurate, and actionable.

   For example, AI models can predict when additional prompting might be needed for items like KYC updates and detect gaps that could pose compliance risks.

   Impact: This enhanced synchronization improves advisor productivity by around 30%, helping banks operate with speed and precision.

3. Smart Service Request Handling

   Updating an address, reissuing a lost debit card, or processing account queries shouldn’t require multiple handoffs or extended delays. Traditional automation might route these requests effectively, but Agentforce can take it further, prioritizing cases based on urgency, analyzing customer sentiment to prioritize escalations, and even generating automated summaries for customer-facing advisors.

   With FSC and Agentforce, service requests automatically adapt to SLA thresholds and proactively raise flags for exceptions.

   Impact: Banks have reported a 50% decrease in repeated escalations, improving customer satisfaction significantly.

4. Faster and Transparent Dispute Resolution

   Disputes are a critical moment of truth in any banking relationship. Customers expect swift and fair resolutions. Automation ensures basic workflows are in place, but Agentforce transforms disputes into opportunities for customer engagement by:

   • Predicting likely causes based on historical trends.
   • Generating real-time updates for both internal teams and customers.
   • Offering proactive recommendations to prevent similar issues in the future.

   Impact: Banks using Salesforce FSC and Agentforce solutions report 60% faster dispute resolutions and higher transparency, leading to improved customer retention and stronger trust.

5. Data-Driven and Faster Credit Reviews

   Manual, document-heavy credit reviews are time-consuming and riddled with inefficiencies. FSC integrates with credit bureaus and rule engines to digitize the evaluation process, but it’s Agentforce that enables smarter credit decisions. Using predictive analytics, AI systems evaluate creditworthiness based on hundreds of data points, reduce decision times, and surface opportunities for portfolio diversification.

   Impact: This means loan approvals and credit servicing are not just faster but much more consistent, yielding a 40% improvement in cash flow and customer retention rates.

The Agentforce Advantage

What sets Agentforce apart is its adaptability. Unlike traditional AI-powered automation tools that are task-focused, Agentforce is designed to learn continually and integrate insights across systems without the need for complex IT architectures. It uses natural language processing and an LLM to search Salesforce records and surface helpful responses, saving agents time and improving customer service. With smart follow-up suggestions and clear explanations, this digital agent can quickly provide answers without digging for information. It identifies patterns, analyzes gaps, and ensures every workflow functions as part of a seamless operation.

Its unique ability to generate actionable summaries, identify emerging trends, and recommend the next steps ensures that front-line teams, office managers, and C-suite executives always operate with clarity and confidence.

Why Transformation Without AI Falls Short

While Salesforce FSC is a foundational platform for scaling and automating operations, adding Agentforce creates an entirely new paradigm of capability. Together, they empower banks to do more than just digitize existing workflows; they enable true transformation by enhancing decision-making processes and creating systems that adapt as needs evolve.

However, transformation isn’t just about technology. Your bank’s success depends on implementing these tools strategically, ensuring they complement existing processes, integrate seamlessly with other systems, and gain widespread adoption among teams.

Choose a Partner Who Understands the Bigger Picture

At Bridgenext, one of only two official PDOs for Salesforce, we bring unmatched expertise in Financial Services Cloud (FSC) and Agentforce. Our in-depth understanding of the platform—paired with 50+ pre-built process templates that go beyond what FSC offers out-of-the-box—helps banks accelerate the build and launch of automated processes, simplify customer experiences, and boost banker productivity. Our expertise includes:

• Analysis and Implementation: Quickly implement automation for onboarding, servicing, compliance, credit ops, and more.
• AI-Powered Workflows: Deploy agentic AI that supports decision-making, predict outcomes, and generates actionable insights.
• Change Enablement: Ensure adoption through training, champion networks, and ongoing optimization.
• Integration Simplicity: Connect systems without the frustration of complex and costly integrations.

If your institution still relies on manual processes or fragmented systems, now is the time to leap forward. By combining Salesforce FSC with Agentforce’s capabilities—and Bridgenext’s industry-aligned accelerators—you’re not just automating; you’re redefining how your bank operates and engages customers.

Don’t wait to modernize. Schedule a tailored FSC + Agentforce workshop with Bridgenext today and unlock new levels of efficiency, intelligence, and customer loyalty.

Customer expectations with regards to their wealth management provider continue to rapidly evolve. Central to this evolution is one theme – proactive, value-added communication. Rather than quarterly reviews, clients now expect real-time, proactive, and personalized insights that affect their portfolios. Furthermore, as part of that proactive approach, clients expect advisors and firms to provide educational resources that build their financial literacy.

What’s powering this transformation? A convergence of data analytics and AI, offering wealth management firms the ability to deeply understand client behavior, anticipate life events, and recommend timely actions that add value and maximize client retention.

How Data Analytics is Shaping Modern Wealth Management

Today’s most competitive wealth management firms are not just going digital—they are infusing intelligence into every client interaction. Here’s how leading players are applying advanced analytics to stay ahead:

1. Predictive Life Event Analysis: Find ways to utilize machine learning algorithms to identify patterns in client financial data, social media activity, and communication history to predict major life events before they occur (retirement, home purchases, education funding needs). This will enable advisors to proactively reach out with relevant solutions before clients even recognize these needs themselves.
2. Personalized Risk Tolerance Assessment: Moving beyond traditional questionnaires by analyzing actual client behavior during market volatility, spending patterns, and emotional responses to financial news. This creates dynamic risk profiles that adjust as client circumstances and reactions change, enabling more tailored portfolio construction.
3. Next-Best-Action Recommendation Systems: Implementing AI systems that continuously analyze client portfolios against real-time market conditions, tax situations, and financial goals to automatically suggest specific, personalized next actions for advisors to discuss with clients, significantly improving engagement and outcomes.
4. Behavioral Finance Insights Dashboard: Creating advisor-facing tools that identify cognitive biases in client decision-making by analyzing transaction histories, communication patterns, and market timing decisions. This helps advisors guide clients away from emotional decisions and toward more rational, long-term investment approaches.
5. Holistic Financial Health Scoring: Developing comprehensive metrics that go beyond traditional wealth measures by incorporating spending patterns, debt management, insurance coverage, estate planning readiness, and progress toward specific life goals. This provides both advisors and clients with a more complete picture of financial wellness and areas needing attention.

The Industry Is Already Moving On

There is already clear evidence that these initiatives are well established with some of the major players in wealth management. To that point, these capabilities can now be considered as expected and fall under the umbrella of best practices rather than future or horizon three innovation. Top-tier wealth management firms have already embedded AI and analytics into their advisor workflows. Clients now expect digital fluency, real-time insights, and predictive guidance as part of their experience. Lagging behind means risking client churn and competitive irrelevance.

The idea of wealth management firms being skeptical or resisting these solutions is long gone. Generative AI and real-time analytics are now considered as the foundation for future competition and the competitive advantage of leveraging them to improve the client experience far outweighs any downside.

Real Work Starts with Getting the Foundations Right

While the potential of data analytics and AI in wealth management is immense, realizing that potential begins with getting the fundamentals in order. Clean, unified, and trustworthy data. Seamless integrations across legacy and new systems. Strong data governance and security. These are not just technical checkboxes—they are the prerequisites for success.

Technology is available, but the real differentiator is execution. At Bridgenext, we don’t just talk transformation—we engineer it. We help wealth management firms:

• Assess and organize their data assets
• Design secure, scalable architectures
• Integrate legacy systems with modern platforms
• Build actionable dashboards and advisor tools
• Ensure regulatory compliance across data flows

By getting your data ecosystem right, we enable your teams to focus on what matters most—building stronger client relationships, increasing wallet share, and delivering smarter, faster advice.

Let’s Build It – Together

Explore how AI is transforming advisor engagement in our related blog: Enhance Client-Advisor Relationships in Wealth Management with AI-Driven Digital Solutions

Download our whitepaper: Navigating the Future of Wealth Management with AI – for in-depth use cases and strategy.

Schedule a consultation with Bridgenext to discover how we can help you lay the right foundation for data-driven success in wealth management.

“Customers are loyal to brands that consistently deliver quality, embrace innovation, and respond to their needs,” explains Britt Mills, VP of CX solutions at Bridgenext, in CMS Wire’s article “Customer Loyalty Starts with Consistency, Ends with Advocacy”.

This shift in customer loyalty highlights a critical truth for brands today. Traditional perks like points and discounts are no longer sufficient to inspire devotion; they’re merely baseline expectations. To truly earn long-term loyalty, businesses must prioritize creating consistent, emotionally resonant experiences that foster trust and build a genuine human connection. Loyalty isn’t static; it’s a dynamic outcome of every interaction.

Click here to read the full article.

Challenges in Modern Banking

• 90% of customer interactions with banks are service related, often requiring multiple systems and people to complete
• 55% of customers are likely to leave their bank due to poor service
• Only 16% of banking customers are satisfied with their bank’s digital experience

On Demand Webinar Details

Explore how Salesforce and advanced AI solutions like Agentforce are transforming banking services. In this session, our panel discussed strategies for automating service requests for account maintenance, disputes and complaints (just to name a few).

By leveraging Salesforce and Agentforce, banking institutions can automate up to 80% of these routine service requests. This streamlines operations, allowing customer service agents to dedicate their time to more strategic, high-value tasks. The result? Enhanced customer experiences, increased efficiency, and stronger customer loyalty—a true win-win for both your team and your customers.

Key Topics Explored:

• Navigating complex account management and banking services needs
• How AI and automation are revolutionizing banking services
• Techniques for personalizing customer interactions in financial services
• Leveraging Salesforce to unlock efficiency in operations and elevate the customer experience

Meet the Panel:

• Greg Jacobi, VP & GM, Banking and Lending, Salesforce
• Scott Effler, Director of Product Architecture, Bridgenext
• Sean Hogan, Head of Salesforce Business Development & Partnerships, Bridgenext

Learn more about how Bridgenext can help you to unlock automation between your core banking systems and your Salesforce investments that will allow you to service your customers faster and more effectively.

Download the recorded session today.